The inclusion of the Maghreb - North Africa - in a seminar about Europe is due to enlargements in the colonial past but also to the ambitions of at least parts of the Maghreb to belong to an enlarged Europe in the future.

The Maghreb is an Arabic word meaning ‘where the sun sets’ and it represents the Far West of the Arab world.

Television is primarily state-controlled in all three countries of the Maghreb, and the national channels therefore aim to implement Arabisation, yet a relatively large percentage of programmes are either in French or contain elements of French.

The Maghreb Center is an independent, Washington DC based non-profit organization formed to increase understanding of the Maghreb in the United States.

The Maghreb Center sponsors numerous programs open to the public featuring U.S. and regional experts, development practitioners, foreign policy specialists, and representatives of Maghrebi governments, and civil society.

The Mission of the Maghreb Center is to increase understanding by US policy makers, academia, the media, the business community and the public at large of the five countries of NorthAfrica, also known as the Maghreb: Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya.

Maghreb is used in opposition to the Middle East, or Mashriq, which is often also used for the Orient, however inaccurate this is. Maghreb is used in order to avoid including the 5 (or 3, depending on definitions) countries in the Middle East.

There is a strong feeling of unity between the peoples of Maghreb, where Berbers constitute a large part, and in 1989 l'Union du Maghreb arabe (U.M.A.) was created between the 5 countries of the wider definition.

The U.M.A. is an economic union, much built on the ideals of the European Community (now European Union), but still far from as important and cohesive.

The Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), which includes Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia (note: due to their size and importance, Algeria and Libya are covered in separate reports), is an important oil and gas producer, exporter, and transit center to southern Europe.

Morocco is gradually integrating its electrical grid with those of its neighbors in both Africa and Europe.

The first step toward Maghreb integration occurred in 1975, when Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco established the Maghreb Electricity Committee.

As a whole, however, the Maghreb is quite poor on a per capita basis, as GDP amounts to only $4,000 per each of the region's 80 million persons, a level comparable to that of Lithuania.

The leaders of the Maghreb countries realized that the vast inter-Maghreb trade potential was not being realized, especially considering the complementary natural resources and pools of labor of the countries of the Maghreb.

The ArabMaghreb Union had decided at its July 1990 summit session to implement the customs union by 1995, and it determined that Tunis would be the seat of an investment and foreign trade bank.

Maghreb power trading expands: the countries of the Maghreb are poised to upgrade their power trading arrangements...lines are being constructed between the countries of the Maghreb, Libya and Egypt, with the eventual aim of joining up with...

Quenching the Thirst of the Maghreb: The Countries of the Maghreb Continue along the Path of Economic Liberalisation and...the cities, given that most of the population in the Maghreb is concentrated in the north, close to the coast and...

Maghreb sees war as vindication by Andrew Borowie...against Taliban targets has been low-key throughout the Maghreb, the African Mediterranean coast area east of Egypt...from Libya in the East to Mauritania on the Atlantic, the Maghreb leadership regards Islamic fundamentalism as the biggest...

The ArabMaghreb Union (UMA) is the best framework for cooperation and integration between the peoples of the region and to consolidate security and peace in a difficult and complex international juncture, said President Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria in a message to H.M. king Mohammed VI.

A Maghreb meeting of the civil society under the theme "teaching for all " will be held in January 2004 under the high leadership of the president of the republic, the president of the national league of the book and Literacy "El Qalam", M. Salidj Abdelkrim announced.

The Maghreb colloquium On the contribution of the Arab language to continuity, solidarity and unity between the Maghreb countries opened on Sunday in Algiers by the president of the republic, Mr Abdelaziz Bouteflika, aims according to organisers at re-launching consultation and dialogue between regions of the ArabMaghreb on the Arab language.

The directors of Maghreb therefore believe that, in addition to the potential for discovery of additional fluorite resources, there is the potential for significant lead zinc mineralisation on these licence areas.

Maghreb has commenced a programme to verify the mineral resources and to move mineral resources into the mineral reserve category at the Zriba mine.

Maghreb Minerals Plc is an AIM listed exploration company developing both base and precious metal deposits in Tunisia and Algeria where it holds the rights to several licence areas.

Language use in the Maghreb countries is characterized by diglossia, i.e., proficiency in two languages/dialects, namely local variety and Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) which have specialized functions.

Some of these differences are due to the continued existence of words from Classical Arabic that have disappeared from all other varieties but have been retained in MaghrebArabic.

To be sure, Maghreb states differ widely from one another, both in their historical evolution and in their current realities.

In Algeria, on the other hand, the differences between the regime and various sectors of society (secular and Islamist opposition groups, and activists among the Kabylian-Berber community) regarding the pace of liberalization are a continuing source of tension.

Regional Economic Integration: The Maghreb Countries and the EU(Site not responding. Last check: )

A major change in the structure of the Maghreb's exports to EU countries will not take place in the near future despite the partnership agreements and the establishment of the free zone due to take place by 2010 due to the inability of the region's producers to adapt swiftly to the prerequisites of the partnership.

The economies of the Maghreb countries are supported by large contributions from customs duties imposed on foreign trade, and any reduction in these tariffs will decrease the revenues available to their governments.

Europe's reluctance to direct its investment to the Maghreb countries can be attributed to various factors: the fragmentation of the Maghreb markets; political and economic instability; poor transportation and communications; a lack of qualified labour; the absence of legal and constitutional institutions; and bribery and administrative corruption.

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